Spring Foward with Cheery Ideas

Spring brings with it more sun, more daylight, longer days, green grass, budding trees and plants ... what's not to love! 

Here are a few little projects, old and new, to show the versatility of Eileen Hull's dies and other Sizzix dies. 

I'll begin with the basket created with the older LOAF PAN die. The die-cut piece was then  embossed and filled with little felt flowers made from another Eileen Hull thinlit die.  Wire handles are added that are made by using the TWIST & STYLE tool by Eileen also. You can find a link to the older blog post here (LINK).

Next comes one of my very favorite dies, the GIFT BOX! This die makes a great square box that can be refigured in so many ways.  Here I used it to create a square basket to hold some spring flowers. I covered poster board with fabric before cutting the shapes. The scalloped edge is also from the die and made with more poster board covered with white fabric.  The basket handle is twisted strips of torn, green fabric, again made using the TWIST& STYLE tool. 

The second piece in this photo used the Eileen Hull 3D VASE die-cut to hold the handmade, paper mache primitive bunny. 

Here is the latest little projects made using Sizzix dies.  The little bunny pins are made using the oval shape from Eileen Hull's TINY BOOK die.  The ears are cut from a leaf die-cut from the FOLIO PAGE & FLOWER thinlit die set.  The tiny felt flowers, leaves, bow and hearts are other various Sizzix dies.  Again I layered a muslin fabric to a sheet of kraft colored card stock to cut the oval and ears. I sealed the edges of the fabric shapes with some clear gesso to keep the edges from fraying too much.  A pin tack was glued to the back side of the oval.

Also the TULIP were made from a different Sizzix die and the sculpture foam. All placed on a TAG cut from another SIzzix die. These were made as little gifts to give to a few friends that I was recently able to finally see, actually in person, in a safe setting after months and months of FaceTime or Zoom meetups!

NOTE: Some of the dies used in these projects are not available through Sizzix any longer. They may possibly be found by searching online.

Designer Craft Connection Hop - February 2013 - Handmade with Love

A new month and a new DCC hop addition.  This month the theme is "Handmade with Love". Hopefully we can find any moment for making and sharing any type of handmade love.  With Valentine's Day only ten days away this certainly a very good time though.

Once again I went to my favorite tools to make something to share.  My Sizzix Big Shot and dies came to the rescue.  I combined my love of the heart shape with papers and felt to create a simple collection of wearable jewelry pieces.  Plus a little heart gift box for presenting any number of small gift ideas.

For the necklace, pin and bracelet I used the Flower Layers with Heart Petals (#658053) die from the "From the Heart 2013" collection by Eileen Hull. A printed paper of choice, with a coordinating felt, and  a "Steam a Seam" sheet to layer them before die-cutting into shapes. The layering of the paper with the felt makes the shapes malleable and sturdy.  Green felt was layered using "steam-a-seam" also, and then leaf shapes were die-cut with another die (Leaves #657119) from an earlier collection by Eileen Hull.

To make the heart shaped gift box, use Scoreboard XL, Heart Box (#658057).  Instead of using scoreboard, I layered two different fabrics and a heavy card stock with "steam-a-seam".  NOTE: This will not be as thick as scoreboard, but it can still be shaped into a sweet, simple box.  I die cut two extra heart shapes from card stock for gluing inside the box lid and bottom. NOTE: These hearts may need a slight trim to fit the inside.  Trim the top edge of the heart with a narrow trim or ribbon. Glue a very narrow trim or rick-rack around the bottom edge of the lower box.  Add a bow or desired decorative element to the top.

Fill the heart with sweet treats, either purchased or homemade, or any other small special gift to give a loved one.